Newbie question on ceramic coating?

[DUBL0WS6]

I think of a two step as compound and polish. Others might view a two step as a polish followed by an AIO. I view a good finishing polish as good enough to go to a durable sealant.

[Billy Baldone]

To me a One step is aiming in the middle of correction/finish. For example I had a C7 Corvette in dark gray the other day that I used a UroTec Blueberry pad with The Last Cut, and got about 75% to perfect in one step. When Mike Phillips talks about abrasive technology, he is not messing around. I used Menzerna 400 Heavy cut on a F350 in black with an orange Force pad, that was just a click away from almost perfect in one step. These results were much harder to achieve in one step just a few years ago. An All in one, is a Paint Enhancement. A 2 Step is Compounding first, then polishing. A 2 plus step is cutting very aggressively then 1 or steps after that to finish out

[Mike Phillips]

I'll chime in....


For best results - you want to do "something" to the paint to insure the surface is absolutely clean bare-naked paint.

The BEST way to do this would be to use some form of abrasive polish as the abrasives will not only remove and even OBLITERATE anything on the surface, at the same time they will remove some degree of below surface paint defects, like swirls, scratches, water marks and oxidation.


That said - you don't have to machine or even hand polish. You could wash the car and then wipe it down with a panel wipe and then install the coating. You wont' get BEST RESULTS but unless the car was recently waxed you should get some level of bonding from the coating to the paint and then you'll get the benefits of the coating even though the paint may not look perfect.

[weekend warrior]

I am 79 and not an expert...and I pulled the plug and coated my car...LOL I almost chicken out the morning I was going to coat...Mike has some great vidoes on how to coat...you might want to look at them...I spent about 8 hours in 3 days....to wash...clay...compound..the hood because of water spots....polished.. paint prep then coat...lots of luck

[TrustJesus]

Got it, good info